Dedication to You
by TheAnimeFicWriter
Summary: Eli and Umi are together with a full life ahead of them. However, they won't see what's coming in their future together.
1. Chapter 1

Dedication to You

Chapter 1

Our Life As We Know It

 **Note:** If you didn't know, KotoUmi is my OTP. However, EliUmi is a super close second so I decided to take another shot with this pairing. Hopefully this doesn't displease you guys. Sometimes, I gotta write what I want so I hope you all stay and check it out. Enjoy.

My name is Sonoda Umi. I am 21 years old and I am currently attending a PT school in Tokyo. A few years ago, I had no idea that I would be doing something like this. I'm studying physical therapy as well as keeping my roots in traditional Japanese dance. Life at glance is pretty good. I'm pretty busy for most of the day so I usually don't get to hang out with friends or family. Me moving to Tokyo for school also didn't help the whole family situation either, but what can I do? They offered me some money to come here so I had to accept the offer.

When I do get the chance to be away from priorities and responsibilities, I spend time with Eli. This was another thing that I didn't see coming. Eli and I are currently dating and entering our third year together. I don't know how this happened. Things just clicked and we've been happy for the longest time. If you didn't know, Eli is now one of the most famous models in Japan. It's quite exciting. I buy her magazines all of the time and I get to see what she loves to do. She's always so pretty and so cute at the same time; it makes me jealous. People love her and that makes me happy too. When we were in Muse, Eli only cared about what other people wanted, but now, I can tell that she's finally getting what she deserves… The spotlight.

I don't say it a lot, but I really do love Eli. There's something about her that just makes me feel so happy.

…

My name is Ayase Eli. I am 22 years old and I am a model currently living in Tokyo. People always used to tell me that I was pretty and that I should get into modeling, but it never caught my attention. However, something came across my path one day which got me doing what I do now. I honestly can't complain because the company I work treats me really well. I've been doing this for two years now so they give me so leeway. If I don't like a concept that they want me to model, they don't get mad. They just call me for some other job. This makes Umi-chan really happy.

If you didn't know, I'm dating Umi-chan. To be completely, this isn't that much of a surprise. During my time with Muse, Umi-chan always held a special place in my heart. She was so pretty and super hard working. Somehow, she manages to keep that same work ethic even being a science student. I don't have to go to school, but I do know that she works extremely hard. Most days, she's up until 2 in the morning doing homework. I always try to help her out, but she always tells me that it's too hard for me. I don't complain, but when I look over her shoulder, I can never tell what's going on.

Even though she stays busy, she somehow finds time for me as well. I don't even know how she does it. Umi-chan is really good at hiding her pain from everyone else, but I've been with her long enough to know and I'm always waiting to be there for her when she needs it most.

I tell her this all of the time because I know it motivates her to do her very best. I love Umi-chan.

…

It was approaching seven o'clock at night and Eli finally made it home after a long day at the studio. When she opened the door, she saw Umi cooking food like a mad man. There were so many things going on that she couldn't believe that she was still alive. She quickly ran over to her and hugged her from behind.

"Hey, I'm home. I can handle this."

"No, it's fine. I'm almost done. If you try and intervene on this, you may not know what to do."

"Umi-chan, please… It's not like I'm not capable of cooking food. And plus, if it's almost done, let me help you prepare the food."

"Alright. I'm sorry. It's just been a long day," she said as she ran her fingers through her hair.

"Hey, you go sit down. I'll take care of the rest. Sound like a plan?"

"Okay." Umi slowly walked to the table, but had to stop herself several times and attempt to get back into the kitchen. Luckily, Eli was there to stop her. These were the moments that made Eli laugh. Umi always tried to work more than she needed to and Eli was always there to give her a break even if she didn't want one.

After some time, the food was finally ready and the two of them ate. Right from the start, Eli shared what went down at the studio. Umi acknowledged most of her comments, but when Eli looked across the table, she saw Umi looking down at her textbook. Even though this was rude, she had to let it go since school was important to Umi. Dinner wasn't anything special because of this behavior, but they always ate together and that's all that mattered.

Once dinner was finished, Eli told Umi that Nico was having a performance and insisted that they watch it together. Like always, Umi told her that she had a lot of homework. That's when Eli put her foot down. She told her that they were going to watch it together; only after her bath. She grabbed her things and headed into the bathroom.

Usually, baths were used to relax, but Eli could never stop thinking about Umi and how much she overworked herself. Every college kid experiences this, but she just feels that Umi is trying to do too much.

"Umi-chan, you're so stupid," she said jokingly as she dipped her entire body under the water.

Eli liked to indulge herself in long baths. When she finished, she walked back into their bedroom where she saw books all over the bed. At the same time, she saw that Umi was completely knocked out. The lights were still on while she was sound asleep.

"Didn't I say that we were watching Nico-chan," she asked quietly.

"Thank you everyone. Nico-Nico-Ni!"

That saying caused her to turn around. She saw that the TV was one and Nico was standing on a huge stage doing her signature phrase. That's when the camera changed to the entire arena and Eli saw that so many people were there cheering her name and applauding her.

"Oh… You were watching her. My bad." Eli quickly dried herself off and turned off the lights. That's when she climbed into bed snuggled closed to Umi. Her body was facing Eli's side of the bed which made Eli turn onto her side and looked at Umi. Umi's sleeping face always looked so peaceful which made Eli feel comforted. Even with her crazy life, Umi never missed a good night's sleep. She kissed her on the cheek and wished her good night.

…

The next day, Umi got up bright and early for one of her classes was a morning class. She quickly got ready and was about to head out of the apartment when she looked back at Eli and saw that she was still sleeping. This caused her to slow down and walk back in. For some reason, looking back was a new thing for her and it was definitely worth it. She's never seen Eli's sleeping face, but it was so cute and nothing like the normal Eli she knew. It made her smile. She bent down and kissed her on the cheek.

"Have a good day Eli."

End of Chapter 1


	2. Chapter 2

Dedication to You

Chapter 2

For Her

 **Note:** I'm so sorry for not updating after all of this time. It's just that it's summer and I'm spending a lot of time with my family. However, with the end of summer just around the corner, I'll be able to pick up writing again. Although I haven't been updating, I've been coming up with more ideas for my current stories as well as new ones in the future. Anyways, without further ado, I hope you enjoy the update.

When Eli woke up, she turned over and reached across the bed, but felt that no one was there. That's when she opened her eyes to see the bed completely to herself. Even though she was used to it, she couldn't but sigh at the sight of another morning alone. Once she got over that fact, she got out of bed and got ready.

During the days where Eli doesn't go to the studio, things are pretty boring for her. Most of the time, she simply waits for Umi to come back home. Aside from waiting, she just reads the books that around the house. She even looked through some of Umi's textbooks and tried to make sense of its nonsense. That's when she truly understood what Umi was going through.

All of the time, Eli always thought about Umi. That girl always worked herself to the point where she never had any free time. Whenever she did have free time, Umi was always tired and never willing to do anything. Eli wanted to change this about her. She knew that Umi could do way more than this. In high school, she was constantly doing things for Muse and her clubs and yet, she never looked like she would ever give in. Now that she was with her, Eli knew that she could do something special to remind Umi that she was a strong, independent girl.

Eli left the apartment and got on a train back to a familiar place. On the way there, she couldn't help but smile the entire time. She had such a good idea and couldn't contain it. Once she arrived, she quickly made her way to the bakery of a familiar family. She stepped through the door and immediately caught the attention of the people working there.

"Eli-san, oh my goodness, is that you?"

"Hi Kousaka-san."

"Wow. What brings you here on such short notice?"

"Haha, I don't really. I just woke up today and decided to come get some sweets. Plus, no one else makes sweets like the way you do."

"Aw, that sweet of you to say. Well, what would you like or would you like me to give you a recommendation?"

"I don't really know what's good, but I do know that I would like a batch of manjuu."

At that moment, Honoka's mom smiled.

"If you don't mind, are bringing Umi these manjuu?"

"Yes."

"I knew it. Ever since we've started this business, I never met someone who like my manjuu more than that girl. Because it's Umi-chan, I'll give you extra for free."

"Oh, you don't have to. I have the money…"

"Don't worry about it. You're a family friend. Speaking of friends, Honoka! Get your butt out here."

"I'm sorry mom. I couldn't find what you told me to look for, but… Eli-chan!" At that moment, Honoka dropped the inventory list she had and ran over to the other side of the counter and hugged Eli. She picked her off the ground and spun her around a few times. "It's been so long. What brings you here?"

"I was just getting some sweets for me and Umi."

"Umi-chan! Is she here?" Honoka looked around the place, but couldn't find her.

"No. She isn't here. She has school today."

"Oh right. I always forget that Umi studies like a good girl."

"Yeah."

"Is there something on your mind?"

"Huh?"

"You just look like your troubled. If there's something I can do to help, please let me know. I'll do anything for my senpai," she said with a smile.

"Aw, thanks Honoka. I think…" Eli suddenly sighed incredibly loud and looked to the floor. "I just feel that Umi works way too hard. I want to help her or get her to slow down just a bit, but she always gets defensive and says that I don't understand what she's going through. What can I do? It just seems like there's nothing I can do for her."

"Hm… That is a difficult situation since Umi-chan is that kind of person."

"Yeah she is, and the bad thing is that she overworks herself even more just so that I'm happy. That makes me feel guilty."

"Another thing about Umi-chan that sucks." Honoka looked at Eli and could see that she was seriously hurting. That's when she put her hand on her shoulder and gave her a huge smile. "I think it's best not to push the situation. Just let her know that you care and that you'll do anything for her. there's no way Umi-chan would brush that kind of behavior aside."

"Okay. I'll try my best."

"Alright. Enough of this, I want to hear about you. How's the modeling? How's the money?" Honoka always knew how to brighten up the mood. She directed the conversation away from the painful things and more towards the happier things. Their conversation lasted for quite a while, but once it was done, they said their goodbyes and went on their separate ways.

When Eli got back, Umi still wasn't home so she decided to set up her little plan. She waited about an hour until Umi came back. When she walked through the door, it was obvious that she was tired. She dropped her bag on the floor and almost collapsed herself.

"I'm home."

"Welcome back Umi-chan. I have a surprise for you."

"Huh?" Umi slowly turned her head to the dinner table and saw a familiar box with a familiar appearance laid out on the table. "Wait a minute… Is that…"

"Yes it is. I got them specially for you. Come and eat."

Umi was a little slow, but she eventually sat down on her chair. She looked at the manjuu with great suspicion while Eli kept insisting her to eat some. That's when she slowly grabbed one out of the box and inspected it thoroughly. Eli could barely keep quiet.

"Umi-chan, just eat it."

Umi bit her tongue, looked at Eli, and then threw it into her mouth. Right as the sweet hit her tongue, her face suddenly lit up with joy. It was the thing she's been craving for so long, but didn't even realize it. It was Honoka's manjuu.

"Umi-chan, how is it?"

Umi bit her tongue again. she quickly swallowed the sweet and looked back at Eli.

"Why are you calling me that?"

"Calling you what?"

"Umi-chan, you've never called me that before and all of a sudden, these past few days have been filled with it."

"Really? I didn't think it would…"

"I know I'm sounding super prissy, but it's just… You're the only one who called me by just my name. for me, it just sounds so sweet when you say it. Hearing 'Umi-chan' makes it seem like I'm with everyone from Muse. Now, I'm not trying to make it sound like a bad thing, but…"

"Umi."

Umi looked down and saw Eli's hands on top of hers.

"I'm sorry. I don't know what's gotten into me. I just want you to know that I'm here for you."

"I know, and I'm sorry for being so mean to you." At that moment, she grabbed the box and started to eat the rest of the sweets. Eli just sat back and enjoyed the sight. Seeing Umi eat her favorite thing in the world was a sight worth waiting for. Her face was bright and her mouth was full of food as if she was a child.

After that, they ate dinner and then got ready for bed. As they climbed into bed, the two of them noticed something a little different about each other. Umi looked a lot calmer and Eli looked super antsy.

"Eli, what's up?"

"What do you mean?"

"You're like super jittery right now. I know that there's something on your mind."

"Oh, you caught that? Whoops." Eli wasn't known for being clumsy, but she definitely made sure that Umi got what she was throwing out. "Well, as you should know, tomorrow is the weekend which means that you're free. So… I was thinking that we could go to the beach."

"The beach?"

"Yeah. Your birthplace."

"Okay. Just because my name means ocean doesn't mean that's where I'm from."

"Haha, I know I'm just teasing you," she said as she poked Umi's nose. "So does it sound like a good idea?"

"Um, I don't really know. I do have a test coming up that I really need to study for."

"Come on. Even I know that too much studying and stress is bad for you."

"Yeah, but…"

"How about this? If you go with me then I won't bother about doing anything like this ever again until you're free from any school work that you think you might have." She stared deeply into Umi's eyes and could tell that she was getting to her. To further seal the deal, she kissed her on the lips and caused Umi's face to turn bright red.

"Alright. I'll go."

"Yay! Thank you Umi!" Eli wrapped her arms around Umi and brought her into her chest, squeezing her face in her own breasts.

"Eli, I can't breathe!"

End of Chapter 2


	3. Chapter 3

Dedication to You

Chapter 3

Not According to Plan

The next morning was an early one. The two of them got ready and immediately headed to the beach. Eli was definitely the most excited about this whole thing. Today was her day to be with Umi and she was going to make it the best she could. On the other hand, Umi was a little absentminded. She was busy thinking about her upcoming test that she needed to study for.

However, when they made it to the beach, the two of them were immediately taken away by the view. Going to the beach was kind of luxury for them so witnessing it in person was almost like a dream come true. The big blue sea spanned as far as the eye could see. People were everywhere with smiles on their faces. That was when Eli grabbed Umi's hand and pulled her towards the beach. They got ready in different changing rooms, but once they came out, they were not disappointed.

Eli was wearing a bikini that was very revealing; something that a model would wear. Umi, on the other hand, decided to also wear a bikini, and for Umi, it was pretty revealing itself. She walked out with a red face and covered most of her body as best as she could.

"Umi, you look so cute. Bikinis are definitely your thing."

"Be quiet. You know I don't look good in these."

"Are you kidding me? You look incredible. This is part of the reason why I fell in love with you. Your body is so perfect. You should model with me."

"Yeah right. I've got way too much on my plate to do something as silly as modeling."

"So what? Are you trying to say that my job is stupid? May I remind you that it is the job that allowed us to come here."

"I know. I'm sorry. I didn't mean it like that. It's just… never mind." Umi's face got even redder as she turned away in embarrassment.

"Umi, you're so cute. Come on. Let's go have some fun."

The two of them started with the water. The water was nice and cool. they splashed around and simply had a fun time in the water. Once they were finished, they headed back to the beach where there were a few food stands. That's when things started to heat up. Out of nowhere, a whole bunch of guys started to crowd around them with curious eyes. Unfortunately, their eyes were only looking at Eli.

"Hey baby, you seem familiar."

"Yeah. Are you that sexy model?"

"Dude you're right! She's the sexy bombshell that does everything."

"Everything, but nudes. Hey, would you consider doing nudes? I'm sure you'd look incredible."

"Hey, don't talk to her like that. Who do you think you are?" Umi stuck her foot into the horrible conversation to defend Eli.

"We're not talking to you. Get out of here." The guys cut in front of her to make sure that it was just them and Eli.

"Sorry, but I'm supposed to be here. She's with me."

"Well, we don't care." At that moment, the guy forcefully pushed Umi to the ground and continued to try and talk to Eli. "So where were we?"

"We were right here." Suddenly, Eli stood up, clenched her fist, and punched him across the face. Everyone was stunned, even Umi as she walked over his body and knelt down in front of her. "Umi, are you okay?"

"Eli, I'm fine. I totally had the situation under control."

"I know you did. I just needed to get out here. Come on. Let's go somewhere else."

"Alright." Umi grabbed Eli's hand as she was pulled back to her feet. The two of them grabbed their things and decided to head into the city.

Immediately as they walked into town, eyes were all attracted to Eli. Eli was completely unaware of it, but Umi realized what was going on. Eli was becoming super popular so more and more people were starting to recognize her as a famous model. A few people occasionally stopped them for an autograph, but they were little girls so Umi didn't mind. In those situations, she knew that it was Eli's school idol background as well as her current modeling career. Once it started getting to the older girls and guys, Umi became annoyed with the whole idea. When it got late, they settled down at a restaurant that was happening.

"Wow. This is place is awesome, don't you think?" Eli was busy looking around the place, but when she turned her head back towards Umi, she knew that something was bothering her. "Hey, what's wrong?"

"Nothing."

"I'm pretty sure it's not nothing. You're super easy to read Umi."

"Well, then I'm mad that at you for not realizing it sooner."

"Wait, what…"

"You told me that we were going to have a day out together and all of these people asking you for attention is annoying. Would you really call this a special day? I know I don't see you a lot because I'm in school, but when I do see you, I devote everything to you. Can't I get the same treatment from you?"

"Umi, are you jealous?"

At that moment, Umi stood up in frustration.

"How could you say that? I'm done here. I'll see you at home." Without another word, Umi turned around and stormed out.

After that, Eli was left alone in that busy restaurant. Once Umi was gone, people started to flock around Eli. They wanted to know if she was the model they were thinking of or just wanted to get autographs and take pictures with her. She decided to go with it, but deep down, she knew that she did something horribly wrong. The longer she was there, the more people started to crowd around her. it only took her a short time to snap out of her trance and head home.

On the way home, all she could do was look down to the ground. In most situations, Eli knew exactly how to handle it, but when it came to Umi, it was almost like something out of a mystery story. She thought about it the entire trip until she finally arrived back at their place. Before she even stepped inside, she thought about it once more. Umi is a very unique person so she wouldn't be bothered by something so simple. It had to be more complicated than any usual showing of frustration. She took a deep breath and walked inside.

When she walked inside, the place was dark and quiet. Eli looked around, but didn't see her in the living room. that's when she walked into their room and saw Umi sitting at her desk with only her desk lap turned on. Eli opened her mouth to say something, but quickly decided to be quiet. Instead, she walked over to her and placed her hands on her shoulder.

"Would you like a massage?"

"Is this your attempt at trying to say sorry?"

"Not at all. I tried thinking about what to say, but I just couldn't come up with anything. I know you're mad at me, but could you please tell me what's going on? If it's my fault, I'm so so so sorry."

"Ugh Eli… I'm not mad. It's just… I'm happy for you. I really am; seeing you be so successful in what you do. I just feel that you don't really think about me. It's selfish of me to ask so much of you, but I just feel like we've lost connection from back then. Don't you agree?"

It sounded so horrible to hear, but deep down, Eli did feel the same way about it. She was full-time modeling and Umi was full-time schooling. That combination couldn't be any harder to see each other on a normal and recurrent basis.

"Umi, I really am sorry. I never knew that you were thinking about it so much."

"Of course I would think about it so much. You're the only one I've ever wanted to be with. I want to make this work."

"And I do too. I promise I'll do everything that I can to make sure that you don't feel this way anymore."

"You're not saying these things because I was forced to bring it up, are you?"

"No." Eli grabbed her chair and spun it around to have it face her directly. "No… From now on, I will always keep you in my mind, even when I'm modeling. I don't want to see you sad anymore. I promise you." Eli leaned forward and kissed Umi on the lips. "Do you believe me now?"

"You're lucky you figured out my weakness," she said with a sigh.

"And what weakness is that?"

"Kissing me." Her face was so red, but she didn't even try to hide it. There was no reason for her to do that in front of Eli. After all, she was the one who knew her the most.

End of Chapter 3


	4. Chapter 4

Dedication to You

Chapter 4

Smoothing Things Out

With their rough patch done and over with, they were able to resume their works. Umi went back to studying and ended up passing that test she was so worried about. Eli went back to modeling and everyone was loving her. As Eli's modeling schedule picked up, more magazines came to their apartment. Umi made sure to read these first above anything else. All over the magazine were pictures of Eli posing in sorts of cute poses. The thing that really made Umi happy was her smile. She knew that it was a genuine smile. That meant Eli was happy and that was the most she could ever ask for.

Eventually, a holiday came around where school wasn't in session so Umi was going to use that day to rest. Even though she was a diligent student, working like she did definitely put a toll on her body. Unfortunately, Eli quickly came up with a suggestion that threw Umi completely off guard.

"Hey Umi, you wanna do something fun on Monday?"

"Um, it would depend on your definition of fun."

"Wow. Don't be like that. I'm sure you're going to love it." Eli cleared her throat and sat down right in front of Umi. "The studio is having a fun day on Monday and I was wondering if you wanted to come with me."

"Fun day? What does that mean?"

"We're pretty much going to have a lot of fun. We're going to eat, play games, and take lots of pictures. We're going to do this thing where the models became the photographers and the photographers become the models. It's so much fun. So you wanna come?"

"Is it going to be an all-day kind of thing?"

"Oh, no way. They realize that it's a holiday. They just thought it be fun to have a lazy day after a long streak of photoshoots."

"Okay. I guess that sounds fun."

"Really? Awesome. Everyone's going to love you and we're going to have so much fun."

…

Monday came around and the two of them headed to the studio. This was Umi's first time ever going to Eli's studio so it was quite the experience. The building was beautifully designed and in a really nice area. When they stepped into the building, there was a front desk that a had a really nice-looking girl working as the secretary, but that wasn't it. Once they stepped into the actual studio, that's when Umi was really thrown off her feet.

The room was huge. There were numerous sets located all around the room. Umi was even able to notice some of them from the ones that Eli has been in. her eyes wandered the room until Eli grabbed her hand and guided her to the area where the party was happening.

"Eli-chan, what took you so long? We were just about to start the switcharoo."

"Really? Umi, let's go." The two of them ran over to the group and immediately got started.

There were 4 cameras so that meant there were 4 photographers getting their chance to model. Unfortunately, there were more of the models so they had to take turns sharing the camera. It was always awkward for the photographers to be on the other side of the camera, but the models gave them so support. They suggested poses and even did it with them so they didn't seem weird or anything. After a while, they finally started to get used to it.

When it was Eli's turn, she got to have a lot of fun. She was the studio's most prosperous model so she made her "models" so all sorts of absurd poses that only girls would do. However, the photographers were able to have their fun as well.

"Hey guys, let's all do Eli-chan's signature pose."

"That's a great idea. Everybody ready?"

At that moment, the all sat down next to each other and got ready. They crossed their legs like ladies, snapped their heads back as if they had hair getting in their eyes, leaned back on their hands, and gave the cameras the most sexual look they could muster up.

"Haha!"

Eli turned her head and saw Umi laughing incredibly hard.

"What are you laughing at?"

"Them… That was so accurate."

"No it wasn't. don't support them."

"Let it go, Eli. Just take the picture." Umi was trying her best to keep up the conversation, but the laughter was just too much. She eventually collapsed onto her knees as she watched the "models" get back at Eli with all of her famous poses.

After that segment of the party was over, they decided to move onto the snacks. When this happened, most of the people there asked Eli who she was being accompanied by. That's when she told them that Umi was her girlfriend. Umi immediately tried covering up that line to be a lie, but Eli insisted that they were a loving couple. Even though Umi was extremely embarrassed, everyone seemed to be super supportive of it. They all told Umi that she didn't seem like the kind of person to ever be in a relationship with someone else. That's when Umi got a little curious so she looked at Eli. However, Eli just turned her head.

Once their snacking session was over, they decided to play a game of truth or dare. This was a random process. They put everyone's name on a slip of paper and placed it in a hat. They sat in a circle and passed the hat around the room until everyone went once. Eli waited a while until her name was finally called. When she was asked the question, she decided to go with truth.

"Eli-chan, you've actually dated Umi for a long time. You just didn't tell us… Truth?"

"Ugh! I knew you guys would do this. It is true. I've dated Umi right after a I graduated high school and we've been happy as could be." Eli suddenly leaned over and kissed Umi on the cheek.

"Aw!"

"Eli, do you have to be so blatant in front of everyone?"

"Why? They're nice people."

"I know, but… Never mind."

"Another round!" They put the names back in the hat and repeated the process. Like last time, Eli's name wasn't called until the very end, but this time, she decided to go with a dare. "Alright Eli-chan… we dare you to…" The group took a second to converse since they knew they had to think of something good. "We dare you to do a photoshoot with your girlfriend."

"Really?" Eli wasn't really surprised at all. However, when she looked over at Umi, she knew that she was sweating a little bit. "We don't have to if you don't want Umi."

"Nope! You have to do it or else."

"Or else what?"

"Or else we get to steal Umi away from you while we ask her everything about you."

That's when Eli's face turned red. She looked at Umi with a frantic look on her face.

"Umi, I know you don't like doing stuff like this, but I'm begging you… Please do this."

"Why are you so scared all of a sudden?"

"Because you don't know these people. They'll ask you all sorts of things in order to make my life hell. Of course, in the joking way, but please… Don't let them do this to me."

"Okay. It shouldn't be too hard right?" Umi stood up and reached down for Eli's hand. Eli reached and guiltily held Umi's hand. That's when everyone stood up and cheered. They were going to get a photoshoot with Eli and her beloved.

Eli placed herself and Umi in the right place while everyone else was getting the other things ready. In the beginning, Eli told Umi how to pose and then Eli would come up with a complementary pose. Right as things started, everyone was in love. they looked so good together that it seemed like they didn't even need to try. As the photoshoot went on, Umi started to get a little bit more comfortable as she was remembering her experience when they modeled for their School Idol Festival game. This was when they were able to do their own thing while still being in unison. For their last shot, Umi decided to do her signature "Love Arrow Shoot" pose while Eli did something completely different. She leaned on Umi's shoulder and kissed on the cheek. This marked the end of the photoshoot and everyone was thrilled about the results of everything.

That also marked the end of the party. Everyone thanked everyone for being there as they slowly went their separate ways. On their way home, Umi couldn't help but blurt out a response to her random act of love.

"What was that about?"

"What was what about?"

"That kiss at the end. You should have told me about it. I can guarantee you like I look like a freaking cherry in that picture."

"Don't worry about it Umi. We're the only ones who are actually going to see it."

"You better be right about that."

End of Chapter 4


	5. Chapter 5

Dedication to You

Chapter 5

What They Don't Know

With most of her tests out of the way, Umi was finally able to relax a bit. Her studying dropped to an all-time low which meant it made it more possible for her and Eli to spend more time with each other. They both really enjoyed. It almost seemed as if that spark from when they both starting dating each other had come back.

Unfortunately, their schedules didn't cease to exist. Umi had to go to campus four days a week and Eli was being called in a lot more often. Apparently, there were a lot of good reviews about the last magazine that she was featured on. For Umi, she was a little mad because even though she had a subscription to Eli's company, she hadn't received a copy yet. Now, with a new day ahead of them, they were hoping to make the best of it no matter what.

…

Right as Umi made it onto campus, she noticed a lot of people were looking at her. She didn't know why. She thought maybe they were just looking her immediate vicinity so she just shrugged it off. However, when she made it into the academic building and in her classroom, the looks continued. She was starting to get a little nervous, but she continued to remind herself that there wasn't anything to worry about. All her worries were out the door ever since those tests were complete.

After her first class was over, she immediately headed to the next one. Unfortunately, people were continuing to look at her. That's when she pulled out her phone to make sure that there wasn't anything wrong with her face. Thankfully, there wasn't… Sadly, that meant there was something else going on that she wasn't aware of.

"Um, excuse me… Are you this girl?"

Umi looked up to see a girl looking at her. At the same time, he pulled out a magazine that showed her and Eli on the front cover. The bad thing, though, was that it was a shot of Eli kissing her on the cheek. Her face immediately turned red as the crowd of people around her started to grow.

"N-No, it's not."

"Are you sure? It looks an awful lot like you."

"She's lying. That totally is her."

"Oh my God!"

At that moment, everyone around her started to swarm her with questions, compliments, and pictures. Umi was thrown off guard by this that she didn't know what to do. Everywhere she turned people were harassing her in different ways. She tried closing her eyes, but the voices of so many people could be heard. She tried covering her ears, but the presence of a large group of people was starting to get to her. She knew she couldn't last that long in that situation so she gripped everything she had with her and ran out of the building. In fact, she kept on running until she made it to the train station where she returned home, missing the rest of her classes.

…

Time went on and Eli finally made it back home. When she opened the door, she was surprised to see Umi sitting on the couch, cuddled up in a ball. She walked up behind her and placed her hand on her shoulder.

"What are you doing here so early?"

She didn't respond. She just kept her head down and refrained from looking at Eli.

"Was it really that bad of a day?"

"It was when I found out that my girlfriend lied to me." At that moment, she jumped off the couch and pushed a magazine in front of Eli's face. "How do you explain this?"

Eli saw it clear as day, but just couldn't think of anything to say.

"Umi, I…"

"I agreed to do this because it was fun and that it would be confidential. Now, everyone on campus who I affiliate with knows that I'm a cover girl now."

"But isn't that a good thing? You're beautiful Umi. Don't you remember when we were school idols? You were like one of the most popular girls."

"That time is over. I'm trying to take life seriously and I can't do that when people are treating me like a celebrity."

"Umi, I'm so confused. Why would you not want people to treat you like that?"

"Because…" Umi suddenly dropped her head and then turned around. "I'm not like you. I'm not a shining star… A beautiful dame… I'm just me, and I want people thinking any more than that."

"Umi, I'm…"

"Just forget about it." With those words, Umi slowly walked to the bedroom where she closed it and locked it behind her.

Meanwhile, Eli was at a loss for words. She's never seen Umi like this before. To her, it really seemed like this affected her in a big way. She knew that Umi wasn't much for getting attention and this kind of attention wasn't a small ordeal. Eli was the top model in the country and for Umi to be paired with her on a cover puts a real target on her back. The more she thought about it, the more she felt horrible about the whole thing. That's when she grabbed her phone and called up her modeling company.

"Eli, honey, how's my precious star doing?"

"Drop it. I'm not in the mood for that."

"Ooo, someone's in a spicy mood."

"Shut up. Why did you do it?"

"Do what?"

"You said that that photoshoot with Umi wouldn't get released."

"Of course we had to say that. Your girlfriend was so unwilling, but listen to all of these reviews. People are saying that you are the couple of the generation, cutest couple, most photogenic women, and much more. Why are you so pissy about this whole thing?"

"Because she's not that kind of person."

"Excuse me… Weren't you two apart of the school idol group that took the country by storm?" They paused to wait for a response, but there was none. "So I don't see the problem in that. I think you should tell your girlfriend to grow up and stop acting like a winy child.

"You wanna know why we did it?! It's because our school was in danger of being shut down. Umi decided to be a part of it because she was a big influence on the girls at our school. It made it easier for us to fulfill our dreams. Also, you ever talk about her like that again, you can find yourself a new golden girl."

Eli immediately hung up the phone and smacked it down on the couch. Especially now, she was feeling the weight of her mistake. She only asked Umi to model with her because it seemed fun and everyone was having a good time. She wasn't thinking about Umi and what might happen if her photographers truly didn't listen to her.

The distance between Eli and Umi lasted until it reached the middle of the night. Eli walked over to the bedroom and checked the door. Surprisingly, it was unlocked so she quietly walked in to see Umi already sleeping. Her books and writing utensils were all over the bed which meant that she studied herself to sleep. Eli always hated seeing this sight because Umi always used her school work to try and escape from anything that gets hard for her, even if that hard thing is school work. Eli walked to the side of the bed and started clearing up all of the stuff. Once that was done, she sat down on Umi's side of the bed and looked at her sleeping face.

"I wish I could understand you. You're just on a different level that I could never comprehend. But if you could tell me what you, I promise to make it happen for you. I just… I want to see you happy." She leaned over and kissed her on the cheek. "I love you."

End of Chapter 5


	6. Chapter 6

Dedication to You

Chapter 6

Hardships

Umi continued to put distance between her and Eli. The odd thing was that she didn't want. Her body was just doing it on its own. Every time they were together, she wanted to say something to her, but nothing came up in her head. Whenever they were apart, she wanted to think about her, but there were so many other things that prevented her from doing so. Most of this comes from all of the people at her school who recognized her from that magazine cover.

Since the release of that magazine, it's been quite a while and yet, people were still approaching Umi to ask all sorts of questions from her. She did her best to avoid all of the attention, but it just seemed to follow her wherever she went. Somedays, she would even find herself locked in the bathroom.

On the other hand, Eli was having difficulties of her own. During her modeling sessions, she was having trouble finding her groove. She usually starts off quickly and continues that trend until the shoot finishes up. However, all of her recent shoots required coaches to step in and help her out as if it was her first modeling. Of course, she knew what she was doing, but for some reason, it was hard for her to get the message across. Her swayed away from the camera sometimes and her body language suggested that she was almost injured. This dilemma set the company back a few weeks with the continuation of Eli's popularity and demand from its readers.

For the both of them, it seemed nothing was going their way. Unfortunately, it didn't get any easier for them. When the two of them were home together, they didn't really talk a lot. Umi was busy studying just to reassure herself that she wouldn't fail anything. Eli spent a lot of time in the bathroom and in the bedroom wondering what was going on with her ability to model.

Of course, neither of them knew what was happening with the other person. They just assumed that the awkwardness between the two of them was the reason for everything at home.

…

More time went on and the two of them started to notice the distance growing further and further apart. They knew that this wasn't how things were supposed to be so they decided to disregard their responsibilities for the day and talk out whatever they needed to talk about. The start was slow, but they eventually figured out where they needed to go with things.

"Umi, I'm sorry. The magazine thing was my fault. After we finished that shoot, they contacted me and asked if it was alright to publish it. Without your permission, I told them that it was alright. I'm sure this is why you've been so down. I'm sorry."

It took Umi a second to fully grasp what Eli told her. It didn't change the fact that she received a lot of unwanted attention from it. She just grew a little less mad at Eli for it.

"I guess I should apologize for my behavior towards. I just can't stand stuff like that. Ever since we stopped being idols, I tried so hard to vanish into the background. I worked so hard to achieve that peace and when my face was on that magazine, it felt as if I was a part of Muse again. It's not that that was a bad thing. It's just that popularity isn't something I handle quite well and for that, I'm sorry too."

"Well, I'm glad we can see eye to eye again."

"But there's something I need to ask you. Are you okay?"

Eli tensed up at Umi's question. She, herself, knew that there was something going on with her, but she didn't think Umi knew about it.

"I'm not quite sure. I feel fine, but whenever I go in for a shoot, my body just doesn't do what I want it to do."

"Huh?"

"I know that it sounds weird, but I just can't describe it."

"Maybe it's because of me. I've caused you a lot of trouble and it's messing you up."

At that moment, their conversation grew quiet and awkward. Of course, there were things that they wanted to talk about, but weren't able to get it out there. Eli was going through her own problems of not being herself in the studio and Umi was trying her best to shake off all of the attention from her magazine shoot. All that they knew was that the other was trying to return to normal. It wasn't going to be easy, but they knew that they had to do something about it or else things would continue to awkward between them.

…

A month went by and things seemed to be cooling off. Umi's college life was back to normal. New editions of magazines were out so everyone was talking about all of new models and shoots. This allowed her to focus on her studies which meant an easier time in general. When she was at home, she was able to give Eli more attention than what she was doing during her time in the spotlight.

However, Eli was still a little different. When she was home, she tried to keep her distance from Umi even when Umi had nothing to do. She wasn't mad at her. It just seemed as if something was bothering her so much that she couldn't be close to Umi. The even worse thing was that when she was at the studio shooting, her performance dipped even more. The staff started to question her about why she wasn't her normal self. Her answer was vague and incomplete. She didn't know what to tell them.

While shooting, lights and flashes were bright and constantly occurring. For her, it looked and felt as if the light was intense, but distant at the same time. Unfortunately, she kept this to herself because she didn't want to worry the staff. She didn't even tell Umi about this. She held on to the idea that her body would be able to return itself to normal. The longer she held on to this thought, the more she started to realize that that wasn't going to happen.

On one of her days off, she decided to go to the doctor. She asked for a full check-up which they gladly offered to her. The process was long and tiring, but Eli wanted to know if there was anything wrong with her. It wasn't until they checked her eyes when the doctors started to see something that caught their attention. In the beginning, they hid this among themselves, but as the doctors continued to ask around, Eli knew that something was wrong. She waited anxiously and nervously for whatever they were going to tell her. At this point, she knew that she wasn't going to come away with this spotless. There was something that happening inside of her.

A couple of hours went by and the doctor finally came out to chat with her.

"So what did you find?"

The doctor was slow at responding. He had a grim look on his face which only made Eli feel even more nervous about her situation.

"The good news is that you're almost completely healthy. The… The bad news is that we found an irregularity that we can't explain."

"And what is it?"

He took a deep breath and looked her right in the eyes.

"You are diagnosed with FCED:Fuchs' corneal endothelial dystrophy."

End of Chapter 6


	7. Chapter 7

Dedication to You

Chapter 7

Coping

Note: Hello everyone, I'm so sorry for not updating after all this time. I just have been putting a lot of stuff on my plate with not a lot of time for myself. You can rest assure that I plan to continue writing. Writing allows me to be creative where school doesn't let me do that so I hope I didn't lose anyone. I'm going to try to update more frequently, but I can guarantee that I won't give up on writing these stories for you guys. Anyway, I hope you enjoy and I hope I haven't lost my touch on the writing ordeal.

"Fuchs' corneal endothelial dystrophy? I've never even heard of something like that."

"It's a rare condition where your eyes start to lose clarity and possibly vision itself."

Eli was shocked. She didn't know what to say or what to do. The only thing she could do was tremble in fear. How could she possibly go through life without being able to see clearly or even at all?

"This is quite a lot to take in so I'll leave you with that. If there's anything that you feel you need to ask, feel free. My office will always be open and I'll be more than willing to move my schedule around for you."

"Huh? You are?"

"Of course. My little girl loves you. She has all of your magazines and looks up to you. I would hate for you to quit because of something like this," he said with a smile.

"T-Thank you, sensei."

With that, he left Eli alone in that desolate room. She was so confused. Why was this happening to her? How was it happening to her? There were so many questions that she had that needed to be answered. What did this mean for her future? What did this mean for her relationship with Umi? That's when she rose from her chair and searched the building for that doctor's office. It only took a short amount of time to find him, but when she did, she immediately got down to business.

"Is this a serious condition?"

"What do you mean by that?"

"How much will it affect my life?"

"Well, there are many possible outcomes, but the most common one in our patients isn't gracious. Complete blindness occurs and a new way of living must be adapted."

Eli froze up. Before hearing this, she was prepared to ask her questions in a set rhythm, but now, she wasn't so sure about it.

"Is there a cure, at least?"

"No, not yet."

"A treatment?" With every word that came out of her mouth, she sounded weaker and weaker. It pained her to live with the fact of potentially losing her vision and speaking about the matter itself with the person who delivered this horrible news.

"I'm sorry, Ayase-san. There's nothing we can do right now. You could come in once a week and we can access the stages of your condition."

"Okay," she replied lifelessly.

"Alright. I will work my schedule around you to make this go as smoothly as possible for you."

…

After her trip to the doctor, Eli forgot about everything that was going on around her. She wandered around aimlessly, lost in a sea of blank thought. The news of her condition was still giving her that shock of disbelief. She was a healthy girl with a family of no genetic diseases or anything else like that, and yet, she was diagnosed with a disease that could take away her vision. As she continued to drown in her own confusion, she eventually found herself returning to their apartment. That's when she was able to return to reality.

When she walked through the doorway, she saw that Umi was already home. Immediately, her body tensed up and she forced herself to stay out of sight. Unfortunately, Umi was too good to let this go by her. She stopped what she was doing and approached Eli.

"Hey, are you okay? You came home later than usual. Did something happen?"

Eli didn't respond. She just walked by her and headed into the bedroom. Umi knew something was wrong she decided to pry a little more by grabbing her shoulder. Unfortunately, Eli couldn't bring herself to speak a word so she threw Umi's hand off of her shoulder and locked herself in the bathroom. Umi wanted to know what was wrong, but she knew that Eli wouldn't say anything so she decided to give her some space.

Throughout the night, Umi checked in with her, but Eli didn't respond. Every time she would hear Umi's voice, tears would start to form in her eyes. Umi already a lot on her plate with school that she didn't want her to worry about this illness that already starting to affect her vision. It just wasn't right for Eli to do that to her. Her life compared to Umi's was so much easier so she didn't want to weigh Umi down with her own problems.

This internal struggle lasted until the late hours of the night. Eli managed to collect herself and leave the bathroom. When she poked her head around the corner, she saw that Umi was still awake, studying at her desk. That's when Eli tried to silently crawl into the bed, but she played into the Umi's plan. Umi quickly slowly turned around and watched Eli slump into bed. She turned off her light and walked to her side where she climbed in and embraced Eli from behind.

"You don't have to tell me what's wrong. I just want you to know that I'm here for you no matter what."

Eli remained silent.

"I can take the day off tomorrow if you're not working. We can go out and do something fun to take your mind off of it."

"I don't think I could ever take my mind off of this," she said under her breath.

"What was that?"

"Nothing." She kissed Umi's arm and then went to sleep. On the other hand, Umi couldn't shake this change in Eli's attitude. However, she held her even tighter, kissed her on the cheek, and wished her a good night's sleep.

…

When morning came around, Eli woke up immediately and left the apartment without Umi knowing. She headed to the doctor's office to start her vision testing. She didn't know what to expect, but she was ready to do anything and everything to make sure that this did not worsen any more.

Right as she arrived, the doctor and his staff were ready to go. This was their first experience with this disease so they wanted to learn and help as much as they could. The first things they did were analysis of her eye. They examined her carefully and took notes on its activity. For this part, Eli didn't really do much, but sit in the chair and remain perfectly still. After all of the analysis, they went over with her exactly what was happening. The receptors of vision were starting to decay and gave her a list of medication that could potentially stop the spread of this decay.

After the complicated stuff, Eli was finally able to work out her eyes. She went through the normal optometrist stuff with the letters and imaging of the eye. Unfortunately, Eli was struggling with this. She was constantly finding herself squinting and taking a long time to distinguish the different in letters and numbers. This part also took the longest because she would get frustrated with herself and cause the staff and her to take a break. It was her drive to fix this problem that was making this process go by so slowly. Once the tests were done, the doctor pulled Eli into his office for one last meeting for the day.

"So how did I do sensei?"

He was so slow to answer her.

"We're starting off really early on this process so we can't expect to see any drastic changes."

"But is that a good thing or a bad thing? You have to tell me what I need to do."

"Alright, just calm down. I'll keep updated when I get new information. My only advice to you is that you ease up on the use of your eyes. If you find yourself straining at any time, you should stop and relax. We need your eyes here at their best on any given day. Does that make sense?"

"Yes it does."

"Okay. One last thing, get lots of rest. Your body can't recover from a disease like in one night, but I promise it will help you in your eyes degradation until we find a cure. Do you have any questions for me?"

Eli's anxious attitude suddenly went to silence. She didn't know what to ask him. Of course, she had tons of things she wanted to ask, but she didn't know if it was appropriate for the situation.

"No, I think I'm fine for now."

"Well, you have my number and I will always answer for you so don't be afraid to call me whenever you feel like something is up."

"Okay. Thank you so much sensei."

"Of course. I guess I will see you tomorrow."

"I will definitely see you tomorrow."

As she exited the building, she looked at the list and examined the medication that was recommended. Immediately, she realized something.

How could she possibly hide these from Umi? The ones on the list weren't anything she's ever heard before and she knew that Umi didn't know them either so it would bring up some suspicious. She shoved the list back in her pocket and decided to head home. Today was a good day for her and she didn't want to worry about it. She just wanted to show Umi that she was fine and that there was nothing to worry about.

End of Chapter 7


	8. Chapter 8

Dedication to You

Chapter 8

Resolve

 **Note:** Hello everyone, I have some bad news to share with you. Unfortunately, I am ending this story this chapter. I just came to the truth that with my current situation and with all the stories I have going at once, I can't give my all to both. So this is one story that I have to cut short. However, with that being said, once most of my stories come to an end, I'll lessen my load and actually be able to concentrate on that one story more. I hope I don't lose any of you because of this because I still want to write. I just don't have a lot of time to do so anymore. Anyway, I hope you guys enjoy the chapter.

Eli's change of behavior really started to affect her everyday life. As her vision started to blur even more, she found herself stumbling around and wondering what things were what. Whenever this happened, Umi was always there to help her, but she refused her help. She just walked away in silence, doing her best to hide the tears from Umi. This didn't sit well with Umi.

Umi quickly noticed that Eli wasn't going into the studio anymore. The only time she left the house on Wednesdays and she was gone for a long time. Once school got out for the semester, she decided to investigate. When Eli left for the day, Umi followed her about a minute or two after her. Immediately, Umi knew something was off because Eli simply had a hard time leaving the apartment and finding her path to her destination. During the trip, Umi did her best to stay hidden from her while making her trip easier. Eventually, they finally made it to their destination and that's when Umi found that she was visiting an ophthalmologist.

Eli stayed at the office for quite some time so Umi decided to head to a place to eat and stay out of sight. After her appointment was done, Eli walked out of the office with shades on. The signs were obvious to Umi. She waited until Eli left the area to head to the office and confront the staff. She stormed into the building and immediately caught the attention of everyone there. The doctor quickly ran into the main reception where a steamy Umi was waiting. She asked him if he was the doctor and he replied with a "yes." That's when Umi demanded to be told what was happening and he followed her orders to the letter.

…

After some time, things returned to normal. The doctor's office was calm and quiet. Meanwhile, Umi was sitting silently in her chair processing all of the information that was given to her. It was hard for her to think about because this was a pretty big deal.

"So Ayase-san didn't tell you anything?"

"No. She's been acting strange lately and every time I asked her if there was something wrong, she just shunned my away. I didn't want things to last like this so I decided to find out for myself and it lead me here."

"Well, now that you're aware of the situation… Please help Ayase-san get through this ordeal. Blindness is probably one of the roughest things to endure. If she has someone next to her, it'll make things a lot easier for her."

"Okay. I will. Thank you for putting up with me."

"No, it's fine. Thank you for not getting too violent."

"Haha, sorry about that."

The two of them shook hands and went their separate ways.

…

When Umi got home, Eli was already back. She was sitting in darkness, all alone on the couch. Umi couldn't help but enter the situation cautiously. She kept her distance and examined Eli's behavior. Nothing was out of the ordinary. Eli just wasn't responding to anything Umi was doing around her.

"So… how was your day?"

"I don't want to talk about it."

Umi immediately bit her lip. This was he behavior she was telling the doctor about. This constant shunning was not going to hold up in Umi's book so she decided to change her tact.

"I think you do need to talk about it."

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"What it means is that you need to stop hiding whatever it is that you're hiding from me."

"I'm not hiding anything from you."

"Eli, I know you better than anyone. I know when you're hiding something and you're not doing a very good job of hiding it. Now… tell me what's wrong?"

"Nothing!" Her voice grew sharper as she turned her head. At the same time, Umi closed in on her making sure that she wouldn't escape her grasp.

"There is something. Now tell me!"

"No!" She tried running away, but Umi immediately grabbed her by the wrist. "Let me go!"

"Not until you tell me what's going on."

"It doesn't concern you," she struggled to say.

"It does. I'm your girlfriend."

"Shut up!"

"That's it!" At that moment, Umi pulled as hard as she could until Eli fell backwards towards her. Umi grabbed her by the back so she didn't hit the ground hard, pinned her by the arms and legs, and stared at her with everything she had. "Tell me what's wrong!"

Suddenly, Eli started to tear up. She immediately shut her eyes to prevent the tears from escaping, but it was no use. The rolled off the side of her face as she couldn't hold it in anymore.

"Why?!" She screamed in agony as Umi let go of her wrists. "I didn't want any of this! I didn't want you to know because you didn't need to know. You already have too much to worry about with school so I thought it was unfair of me to throw this on you as well."

"Eli… I know. You don't need to hide it anymore."

"What are you talking about?"

"I followed you. I know I shouldn't have, but I followed you today. I went to see the doctor and he told me everything. Why would you think that this was something I didn't need to know about? This is even more important than my school."

"Don't be ridiculous."

"I'm not being ridiculous. If someone I love needs my help, I have to help them. It's not because I have to; it's because I want to."

Eli covered her eyes with her arms and gently pushed Umi off of her. Mustering the strength she had, she wiped the tears from her eyes and sat back up.

"I think we should break up."

Her words were like daggers. They cut deep and true, but Umi couldn't believe that they were even being spoken.

"You don't mean that."

Eli slowly stood up and walked to her room, struggling to find her way.

"It's obvious now that I don't deserve you," she said softly as she locked the door behind her.

All Umi could do was sit in the middle of the room in shock.

Was this my fault? Is it because I found out? Would this have gone differently if I didn't know about it? Why would she not want me to know about this? I could help her get through this. She needs me… Doesn't she?

…

The next day, Umi decided to leave the apartment to think things through. Of course, the only thing that she was really thinking about were those last words Eli spoke to her.

I think we should break up.

To her, that felt more of like an escape than an actual answer. Even with that confrontation last night, Eli still wasn't acting like her true self. There was still something bothering her and Umi wanted to be there for her to help. Her train of thought forced her to roam the city all day until she found herself standing at the entrance of Eli's photo studio. That's when an idea popped into her head. She quickly ran into the building and looked for Eli's manager and photographer.

…

The day turned to sunset when Umi and the photographer returned to the apartment. Umi peeked into the apartment and saw Eli had her headphones on so she quickly unlocked the door and brought him in with her. He quickly set up his things and started to take some pictures. This was definitely harder than they thought because she still had the ability to see so getting a direct face shot of her would be almost impossible. It wasn't until the photographer had Eli lined up with the window and a stunning sunset when he was able to get what they were looking for. After that, he packed up his things and made his way out of the apartment.

"So how long do you think it'll be until that releases?"

"Since my manager knows about what we're doing, it shouldn't be longer than a week. Don't worry. I'll make sure that you guys get the first copy."

"Okay. Thank you so much.

"Oh, thank you. It was so nice to see Ayase-san again. Have a nice day."

"You too."

Once he left, Umi silently walked into the apartment and stayed at the front door. She was too afraid to come in any further. She simply watched Eli to see if she was acting any differently from yesterday. She remained quiet occasionally wiping tears from her face. That's when Umi knew that it was still too soon to return so she grabbed her things and left. When the door shut, Eli removed her headphones and turned her head to see someone walking away from the window.

"Umi?"

…

A few days passed and the magazine was finally released. Umi was the first to get it and she immediately looked through the entire thing. Right from the start, the cover was something else. It was a portrait of Eli's face. One side was colored and had a smile. The other side was black and white, blurry, and had no smile. All that was on the front were the words, "What is beauty?" the middle binding of the magazine was devoted to Eli. It had all sorts of things about her that she knew her fans would love to read about. However, there wasn't any time for that. She held onto the magazine tightly and sprinted to her apartment. When she got there, she was so caught up in the moment that she totally forgot that she had a key. She knocked and knocked until Eli finally answered the door. She cracked it open ever so slightly which was a little strange to Umi.

"Yes?"

"Eli, it's me."

"Oh… I thought you had a key," she said as she closed the door.

This behavior was even strange than before, but Umi didn't let that get in the way of her goal. She opened the door and entered the apartment. Right as she walked in, she saw what had happened. Everything was everywhere. Cups were all over the ground, things weren't in the right place, and Eli had a walking stick. That's when she knew what had happened.

"You've been gone for quite a while."

"Yeah… I, uh… I was busy." She watched Eli traverse the apartment and she knew that her vision was pretty much gone. "But Eli…"

"Things sure have changed."

She couldn't let this go on anymore.

"Eli, your studio published its own magazine and you made the cover."

"You know that that stuff is useless to me now."

"It's fine. I'll describe everything for you. You even have the middle binding all to yourself and look what they wrote about you."

"I have no interest," she said as she stood up and walked to the bedroom.

"No, please. Just…"

She closed the door behind her without letting Umi finish her train of thought. All Umi could do was stand there in sadness. It took her a second to finally walk over to the door and open the magazine.

"What is beauty? Many people see it as the ones who shine in the light and are admired by everyone. They see beauty as being perfect, but is that really what beauty is? Can we really say that beauty is these things? I don't believe that. I've undergone a traumatizing incident where I realized what true beauty is. Beauty is strength. Beauty is courage in the face of complete darkness and despair. Giving a smile that doesn't show fake emotions, but rather… A promise that things are good and will be good in the future. It's an interesting thing to think about: Beauty. But after what I've seen, nothing is more beautiful than Ayase Eli. She is nothing short of beauty in its purest form."

There was silence as Umi took a deep breath and waited for some kind of response from the other side of the door.

"W-Who wrote that?"

"I did. I talked to your manager and he set this whole thing up. This entire magazine is devoted to you. I even managed to get your photographer to come here and take a few photos of you. I hope that's okay with you. It's probably not since I didn't ask for your permission, but…"

"What was the picture?"

"It was when you were sitting on the couch hugging your legs. You were lined up with a beautiful sunset and that's the one he decided to use."

Eli suddenly started to cry.

"Eli…"

"I'm so scared."

"You don't have to be. I'm right here with you."

"I'm already starting to forget what a sunset looks like. I don't want to forget that sight. I don't… I don't want to forget what you look like."

"You won't forget because I will always be right next to you. I won't ever leave you and I won't ever forsake what we have. I love you."

There was more silence.

"Can you remind me what a sunset looks like?"

"I… Open the door and I'll do my best."

The door slowly cracked open and Umi saw Eli sitting on the ground in tears. She slowly crawled to her and hugged her as warmly as she could.

"This is what a sunset is. Do you feel it?"

Eli remained quiet until she finally mustered the strength to wrap her arms around Umi.

"Mmm… It's warm."

The End


End file.
